Since the start of this year, 83 Tibetan women have been sterilised “through various means” in Chukok Sonak town, Rebkong district, under Qinghai province where Chinese authorities have launched a strict birth control policy. In 1996 nine Tibetan women were sterilised and 32 were required to use contraceptives.
These figures were provided by the the Qinghai Tibetan daily newspaper published on 12 March 1997. In conjunction with extensive propaganda, six general meetings were held in Rebkong district calling on officials in the area to implement the birth control policy.
On 12 February 1997, the same newspaper reported that a meeting on birth control in the province had been called at the start of 1997 in Siling (Ch: Xining), Qinghai’s capital. During the meeting the birth control policy for the 1996 year was analysed and plans for 1997 were concluded.
The meeting also fixed strict regulations to control the birth rate and the population of the province. Economic sanctions and prizes were to be given to officials and couples who followed the regulations and those who refused to follow the birth control policy would be punished. The head of Siling city and the Tibet Autonomous Prefectures of Tso-lho, Ma-lho, Tso-Jang, Tso-nub and Tso-shar were each given incentives to encourage the implementation of the birth control policy in their repective regions.